Ryan Andresen claims he was denied a
Boy Scouts award after coming out gay.
Andresen, a longtime Boy Scout who
lives near San Francisco, was denied an Eagle Scout award by his
troop leader after he completed the work needed to earn it.
Andresen's mother, Karen Andresen, told
Yahoo! News that her son was denied the award “because Ryan said he
is gay.”
The scout said he told his scoutmaster
about his sexuality before beginning work on his project, a
wall-sized mural illustrating hundreds of acts of kindness.
“He had been telling me all along
that we'd get by the gay thing,” Andresen
said. “It was by far the biggest goal of my life. It's
totally devastating.”
Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy
Scouts, suggested the reason Andresen was denied the award was
because he disagreed with the group's religious principles.
“Recently, a Scout proactively
notified his unit leadership and Eagle Scout Counselor that he does
not agree to Scouting's principle of 'Duty to God' and does not meet
Scouting's membership standard on sexual orientation,” Smith wrote
in a statement. “While the BSA did not proactively ask for this
information, based on his statements and after discussion with his
family he is being informed that he is no longer eligible for
membership in Scouting.”
Karen Andresen denied the charge in a
statement to GLAAD.
“The Boy Scouts of America's
statement that Ryan does not agree to Scouting's principle of 'Duty
to God' is inaccurate. … [T]he only reason he's being denied the
rank of Eagle is because the Boy Scouts of America has a problem with
Ryan being gay,” she
said.
The Boy Scouts of America reiterated
its ban on openly gay scouts and leaders in July.
(Related: Cleveland
United Way approves gay protections; Could impact Boy Scouts
funding.)